Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially released Ray Shero from his General Management duties on Friday, May 16.

In a striking contrast from what has been reported for two day, the Penguins did not remove any of the coaching staff. In a very strange and very brief pressing, Penguins President David Morehouse confused the media and the fan base in his explanation.

The Penguins have decided that the coaching staff will not be addressed until the new GM is in place. Once a GM has been hired, it will be his job to hire a coach or retain the group already in place.

Jason Botterill, the current assistant general manager, will take over as interim GM as the Penguins head into t...

As I begin this latest draft review, we are about a half an hour away from the Pens press conference to remove Ray Shero from his position. There goes getting these done beforehand. Alas here is the 2008 draft. This will be a quicker one since the Pens sold the farm and most of their soul to make a Cup run.

Rd4 Pick 120 - Nathan Moon (Center) - That's right the first pick the Pens had in the draft was in the end of the fourth round. Moon had versatility at the forward positions and a good shot and quick release but strongly lacked in give and go situations. Makes for an odd pick considering the way Bylsma systems tend to run. A player who wasnt known for playing well off t...

It takes an entire team effort to lose a playoff series when you have a 3-1 lead. From the goaltending, to the defense, to the forwards, the coaches, and the management, there is no one who will be able to escape blame for this disappointment.

It starts and ends with the captain…?

This played out old adage shows that we as fans have learned nothing. You win as a team and lose as a team. Yes, Crosby has to perform better and he is a big reason the Penguins are now eliminated, but that is not the only reason, or even the majority of reasons, that Pittsburgh’s season is over.

Sidney Crosby was pummeled from start to finish in this post season play. Say what you...

Continuting from today's earlier post, let's take a revisionist look at the second and third drafts under Ray Shero in 2007.

2007

Rd1 Pick 20 - Angelo Esposito (Center) - What was once a concensus number one pick dropped to 8th among the final rankings of North American skaters and took an even further free fall during draft day. When selected, Shero even alluded to his potential tradeability and sure enough was part of the blockbuster deal that sent Pascal Dupuis to the Penguins along with future and inconsequential considerations that ended up being Marian Hossa (haha). Even if the Penguins didnt win the Cup that year and Hossa left for Detroit in the offseason...

Rumors run rampant and blame is being cast like a fly fisherman in the wake of yet another early playoff exit/flameout by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This time it was a blown 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers.
I believe a large portion of the reactions, or over reactions at times, isn’t so much on the losing alone but rather how they have lost. I would like to think that even the most Kool-Aid drinking Penguins fans, who believe just because they have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, that they should be in the Cup Finals every year, realize the difficulty that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The fandom demands of players being traded and coaches being fired is an oft found react...

At this point, it is safe to say that the game one overtime loss to the Rangers was the only resemblance of competition in this series.

Since then the Pittsburgh Penguins have won by a collective 9-2 score. They have clearly been the better team, they have had the better drive, and they certainly have been the more composed team. The Rangers have had 45 giveaways in the past two games; compare that to the Penguins 16. The Rangers have zero power play goals in this series and have had maybe two chances all series.

The problem in trying to break down all of this information is that you cannot get a legitimate read on how this series is being...

While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are playing good, with the latter having greater production but not overall greater play, the Penguins have Managed to win six games out of nine.

Not too shabby when talking about post season play. After all, winning is winning at this time of the year. Not many people are going to complain about how asetically pleasing the game was when it results in a win.

This happened to be the case on Monday, game three and the second game of the back to back which saw the Penguins dominate game 2 on Sunday. Pittsburgh held on to win a 2-0 game at MSG on the back of Marc-Andre Fleury, who had his second shutout in as many nights. This is something tha...

The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped game one of their series against the New York Rangers in terrible fashion on Friday night. There were multiple instances of horrible turnovers and poor positioning that inevitably led to a Rangers victory.

The Rangers Benoit Pouliot was the most visible player on the ice for a majority of the game. He played physical and smart, leading his team with a goal and an assist. His line mate, Derick Brassard, scored the overtime winner after a horrible Rob Scuderi turnover below the net.

Matts Zuccarello failed to register a point in the game, but certainly had himself a strong afternoon. His mix of speed and tenacity helped keep the Penguins top line ...

Pittsburgh: The Penguins managed to secure victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets by using their depth, their defense, and strong play on the puck. The Penguins had a tough time getting everything going against the very tight checking Blue Jackets, but still managed to control the puck at a 60% corsi and shake up the lines enough to avoid the preferred match ups of Columbus.

All of this plays in well against the Rangers. Pittsburgh will not have to focus exclusively on the forward match ups, mostly because New York’s shut down play Boyle has not had great success against Crosby. Pittsburgh has been able to use five different lines, comprised mostly of t...

The series came to end after a dominant performance by the Penguins and a third period they kind of showed up for.

This is not entirely fair to say. The Jackets did come back in game three in an epic way. Scoring three goals in the final ten minutes to scare Pittsburgh was a great ending for all. It gives hope to the fans for next season and reminds Pittsburgh to stay humble.

Although, in all fairness Pittsburgh had to play short Joe Vitale and Brandon Sutter for the final frame. With both leaving via injury, the Penguins only had three lines available. They got caught flat footed, tired, and instantly fell into penalty trouble. The Jackets then threw everything they had...